The Oscars inevitably bring a lot of grumbling about which films the Academy has overlooked. But if one of your favorites is among them, perhaps you can at least take heart in the fact that it’s in great company. The Oscars have a very long history of backing the wrong horse. Some of what we now view as unimpeachable classics weren’t even seen as Best Picture nomination-worthy at the time.

TV, like cinema, is currently awash with new takes on old movies. Prequels to both Psycho and Silence of the Lambs are currently on the air, with a reimagined version of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo set to debut this week. Now, coming up on the horizon at NBC is a new Rosemary’s Baby, starring Zoe Saldana, Patrick J. Adams, and Jason Isaacs.

If you want to get real technical about it, this miniseries isn’t a remake of the Roman Polanski film but a fresh adaptation of Ira Levin‘s novel. Either way, though, the story remains the same: attractive young couple gets pregnant, but then comes to realize that something is not right. Earlier teasers have been pretty stingy about the footage, but the new minute-long trailer offers plenty to look at. Watch the video after the jump.

Plenty of movies have taken inspiration from Rosemary’s Baby over the decades, including, recently, Hell Baby and Devil’s Due. But NBC is going the direct route by simply adapting Ira Levin‘s original novel into a four-part miniseries.

Zoe Saldana and Patrick J. Adams play Rosemary and her husband Guy, a young couple who’ve just moved from New York to Paris. When they discover that she is pregnant with their first child, they’re initially thrilled. But joy turns to fear as strange things begin to happen.

While it’s not technically a remake of Roman Polanski‘s movie, the comparisons are going to be inevitable. So how does this new version stack up? Watch the first Rosemary’s Baby tv teaser after the jump and judge for yourself.

Remake creators will often proclaim that any given remake is a new take on material, and that it won’t look much at all like a previous film. And yet the first materials released always seem to look quite a lot like that original film. Take Rosemary’s Baby as an example. The NBC mini-series adapts Ira Levin’s original novel with Zoe Saldana, Patrick J. Adams and Jason Isaacs starring in the tale of a young woman who begins to suspect that her pregnancy has been controlled by neighbors with nefarious intentions.

Here’s our first look at Rosemary’s Baby via two photos, and the echo of Roman Polanski’s original film is definitely in one.

Update: We’ve got better versions of these images, and a new poster to go along with them.

NBC is ready to birth a new version of Rosemary’s Baby, based on the same Ira Levin novel that was adapted into Roman Polanski’s landmark film of the same name. And while this new four-hour miniseries is said to be based more on the book than the film, let’s not kid ourselves — it will be very difficult to keep Polanski’s influence from creeping in. Scott Abbott scripted this take.

In this version, Rosemary will be played by Zoe Saldana, which was announced today by Deadline. Read More »

Having brought Hannibal Lecter and Dracula to television with some success, NBC’s now got its sights on another classic horror property. The Peacock is turning Rosemary’s Baby into a four-hour miniseries, to be directed by Agnieszka Holland (HBO’s The Wire, Europa Europa). Details on the new version, including how it’ll differ from Roman Polanski‘s iconic 1968 film, after the jump.

There will be critics who call The Ghost Writer “a refreshing throwback to the taut political-conspiracy thrillers of the ’70s” and “an enjoyable treat that offers smart flashes of Roman Polanski in his prime,” and this praise, genuinely expressed or not, is unfortunate. Watching the film, I was convinced that had a “blind” screening been arranged—wherein a cinema-savvy audience was not aware of the director’s identity—hardly anyone would claim this a work by a masterful filmmaker. My personal guess would have been, “Ron Howard evoking Alfred Hitchcock—but has Howard lost his wet-fingered knack for the polished blockbuster? Either way, is this receiving a wide theatrical release?”

The notion of remaking Alfred Hitchcock‘s The Birds was absurd from day one, and now the Platinum Dunes guys are suggesting they’ve started to see the light. “We lay ourselves out there and get annihilated out there online all day long,” said producer Brad Fuller during a chat with journos on the set of A Nightmare on Elm St., “and [The Birds] just opens us up to a whole different level of annihilation.” What’s the conclusion? “…it doesn’t feel like that’s up next for us.” More pecking around the corpse of The Birds and the (still?) planned Rosemary’s Baby re-do after the jump. Read More »

Well Medicated put together a fine collection of 50 Polish movie posters, including the cute interpretation above of Rosemary’s Baby. I’ve included a few of my favorites here. And for contrast, I’ve attached the new domestic one-sheet for Leonardo DiCaprio’s Body of Lies—one of the blandest posters I’ve recently come across. Can’t say I prefer the foreign version of Weekend at Bernie’s, but that’s to be expected, no? For more info on the artists behind these works, or to purchase, visit the great site, PolishPoster.com. Thanks to ‘rio for the tip.

Welcome to another edition of Movie Playlist, where we talk to the writers, directors, and stars about their favorite films. I’ve always found the celebrity playlists on iTunes to be interesting. Most everyone in the film business moved to Hollywood after discovering their love of films. And I’ve always love talking to people about their favorite films. So talking to the people who make the movies about their favorite films just seemed like a natural idea.

Nanette Burstein is the Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker behind On The Ropes and The Kid Stays in the Picture. Her latest film American Teen follows five high school students through their senior year. I hate to oversell the movie, but it’s literally one of my favorite films of the year.

Nanette Burstein: There are certain directors whose films, I could just watch them endlessly. Alexander Paine, I’m a huge fan of.

Peter Sciretta: You know, I saw a lot of like Election in American Teen…

Nanette Burstein: Yes, Election definitely influenced this film… Like the shots of the kids when you hear their voiceovers and they’re on the bed, I totally took that from Election. There was the night before election where there’s all these dolly shots into all the main characters and their thoughts and like they’re all crane…

Peter Sciretta: It was like those crane shots.

Nanette Burstein: Yeah, those shots are amazing, and that’s what inspired me to do that.

Nanette Burstein: There’s definitely different homages in this film, like Garden State which I love there’s this scene when Hannah goes to the party and she’s alienated and the way I cut that scene was completely influenced by that scene in Garden State where he’s alienated at the party.